Bureaucrats, politicians and reform in Whitehall: analysing the bureau-shaping model

Dunleavy's bureau-shaping model has breathed new life into existing debates about the behaviour of senior bureaucrats. This article assesses the utility of this model as an explanation of the development of Next Step agencies in the last decade in Britain, using data drawn from a series of extensive interviews with senior civil servants. Our conclusion is that, although the bureau-shaping model represents a significant advance on previous models of bureaucratic behaviour that stress budget maximization, it is flawed. In particular, we argue that: it pays insufficient attention to the broader political context within which civil servants operate; mis-specifies bureaucrats' preferences; and oversimplifies the distinction between managerial and policy advice work. More specifically, we suggest that any explanation of the development of Next Steps agencies needs to recognize that: politicians rather that civil servants played the major role in their creation; the strategic calculations of bureaucrats were significantly more sophisticated than the model assumes; and the consequence of the reforms has been that senior civil servants have played a greater, rather than a more limited, management role

IPD - the Immuno Polymorphism Database

The Immuno Polymorphism Database (IPD) (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ipd/) is a set of specialist databases related to the study of polymorphic genes in the immune system. IPD currently consists of four databases: IPD-KIR, contains the allelic sequences of Killer-cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptors; IPD-MHC, a database of sequences of the Major Histocompatibility Complex of different species; IPD-HPA, alloantigens expressed only on platelets; and IPD-ESTAB, which provides access to the European Searchable Tumour Cell-Line Database, a cell bank of immunologically characterized melanoma cell lines. The IPD project works with specialist groups or nomenclature committees who provide and curate individual sections before they are submitted to IPD for online publication. The IPD project stores all the data in a set of related databases. Those sections with similar data, such as IPD-KIR and IPD-MHC share the same database structure. The sharing of a common database structure makes it easier to implement common tools for data submission and retrieval. The data are currently available online from the website and ftp directory; files will also be made available in different formats to download from the website and ftp server. The data will also be included in SRS, BLAST and FASTA search engines at the European Bioinformatics Institute

A new perspective on the longitudinal variability of the semidiurnal tide

The longitudinal variability of the semidiurnal tide in the Antarctic upper mesosphere is investigated by comparison of observations from two radars at approximately opposite sides of Antarctica. Under the assumption that the tide is composed of an S = 2 (migrating) and S = 1 (westward-propagating, non-migrating) component only, the relative phases of the components are shown to vary with season such that the waves are typically in constructive interference during the winter (summer) months at longitudes around 0 degrees E (180 degrees E). We show that this has profound effects on the seasonal behaviour of the semidiurnal tide around 78 degrees S dependent on the longitude, and that no single-station observations at this latitude can be considered representative of a "zonal mean". The superposition of these two waves is used to interpret differences in previously-published ground-based climatologies of the tide. Citation: Hibbins, R. E., O. J. Marsh, A. J. McDonald, and M. J. Jarvis (2010), A new perspective on the longitudinal variability of the semidiurnal tide, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L14804, doi:10.1029/2010GL044015

Acute lung injury in paediatric intensive care: course and outcome

Introduction: Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) carry a high morbidity and mortality (10-90%). ALI is characterised by non-cardiogenic pulmonary oedema and refractory hypoxaemia of multifactorial aetiology [1]. There is limited data about outcome particularly in children. Methods This retrospective cohort study of 85 randomly selected patients with respiratory failure recruited from a prospectively collected database represents 7.1% of 1187 admissions. They include those treated with High Frequency Oscillation Ventilation (HFOV). The patients were admitted between 1 November 1998 and 31 October 2000. Results: Of the 85, 49 developed acute lung injury and 47 had ARDS. There were 26 males and 23 females with a median age and weight of 7.7 months (range 1 day-12.8 years) and 8 kg (range 0.8-40 kg). There were 7 deaths giving a crude mortality of 14.3%, all of which fulfilled the Consensus I [1] criteria for ARDS. Pulmonary occlusion pressures were not routinely measured. The A-a gradient and PaO2/FiO2 ratio (median + [95% CI]) were 37.46 [31.82-43.1] kPa and 19.12 [15.26-22.98] kPa respectively. The non-survivors had a significantly lower PaO2/FiO2 ratio (13 [6.07-19.93] kPa) compared to survivors (23.85 [19.57-28.13] kPa) (P = 0.03) and had a higher A-a gradient (51.05 [35.68-66.42] kPa) compared to survivors (36.07 [30.2-41.94]) kPa though not significant (P = 0.06). Twenty-nine patients (59.2%) were oscillated (Sensormedics 3100A) including all 7 non-survivors. There was no difference in ventilation requirements for CMV prior to oscillation. Seventeen of the 49 (34.7%) were treated with Nitric Oxide including 5 out of 7 non-survivors (71.4%). The median (95% CI) number of failed organs was 3 (1.96-4.04) for non-survivors compared to 1 (0.62-1.62) for survivors (P = 0.03). There were 27 patients with isolated respiratory failure all of whom survived. Six (85.7%) of the non-survivors also required cardiovascular support.Conclusion: A crude mortality of 14.3% compares favourably to published data. The A-a gradient and PaO2/FiO2 ratio may be of help in morbidity scoring in paediatric ARDS. Use of Nitric Oxide and HFOV is associated with increased mortality, which probably relates to the severity of disease. Multiple organ failure particularly respiratory and cardiac disease is associated with increased mortality. ARDS with isolated respiratory failure carries a good prognosis in children

Evaluating STZ-Induced Impaired Wound Healing in Rats

YesMedical Research Council, Innovate UK and Epistem Ltd

Intense summer floods may induce prolonged increases in benthic respiration rates of more than one year leading to low river dissolved oxygen

The supply of readily-degradable organic matter to river systems can cause stress to dissolved oxygen (DO) in slow-flowing waterbodies. To explore this threat, a multi-disciplinary study of the River Thames (UK) was undertaken over a six-year period (2009–14). Using a combination of observations at various time resolutions (monthly to hourly), physics-based river network water quality modelling (QUESTOR) and an analytical tool to estimate metabolic regime (Delta method), a decrease in 10th percentile DO concentration (10-DO, indicative of summer low levels) was identified during the study period. The assessment tools suggested this decrease in 10-DO was due to an increase in benthic heterotrophic respiration. Hydrological and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) data showed that the shift in 10-DO could be attributed to summer flooding in 2012 and consequent connection of pathways flushing degradable organic matter into the river. Comparing 2009–10 and 2013–14 periods, 10-DO decreased by 7.0% at the basin outlet (Windsor) whilst median DOC concentrations in a survey of upstream waterbodies increased by 5.5–48.1%. In this context, an anomalous opposing trend in 10-DO at one site on the river was also identified and discussed. Currently, a lack of process understanding of spatio-temporal variability in benthic respiration rates is hampering model predictions of river DO. The results presented here show how climatic-driven variation and urbanisation induce persistent medium-term changes in the vulnerability of water quality to multiple stressors across complex catchment systems

Statistical analysis plan for the OPTIMUM study: optimising immunisation using mixed schedules, an adaptive randomised controlled trial of a mixed whole-cell/acellular pertussis vaccine schedule

Objective: The purpose of this double-blind, randomised, controlled trial is to compare allergic outcomes in children following vaccination with acellular pertussis (aP) antigen (standard of care in Australia) given at 2 months of age versus whole cell pertussis (wP) in the infant vaccine schedule. Participants: Up to 3000 Australian infants 6 to <12 weeks of age born ≥32 weeks gestation. Interventions: The intervention is a wP containing vaccine as the first scheduled pertussis vaccine dose instead of an aP containing vaccine. Outcomes: The primary outcome is a binary indicator of history of IgE-mediated food allergy at the age of 12 months confirmed, where necessary, with an oral food challenge before 18 months of age. Secondary outcomes include (1) history of parent-reported clinician-diagnosed new onset of atopic dermatitis by 6 or 12 months of age with a positive skin prick test to any allergen before 12 months of age, (2) geometric mean concentration in pertussis toxin-specific IgG before and 21 to 35 days after a booster dose of aP at 18 months of age, and (3) sensitisation to at least one allergen by 12 months of age. Results: Operating characteristics of trial decision rules were evaluated by trial simulation. The selected rules for success and futility approximately maintain type I error of 0.05 and achieved power 0.85 for a reduction in the primary outcome from 10% in the control group to 7% in the intervention group. Discussion: A detailed, prospective statistical analysis plan (SAP) is presented for this Bayesian adaptive design. The plan was written by the trial statistician and details the study design, pre-specified adaptive elements, decision thresholds, statistical methods, and the simulations used to evaluate the operating characteristics of the trial. Application of this SAP will minimise bias and supports transparent and reproducible research. Trial registration: Australia & New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12617000065392. Registered on 12 January 2017 Study protocol: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-04283

A pulsating white dwarf in an eclipsing binary

White dwarfs are the burnt-out cores of Sun-like stars and are the fate of 97 per cent of the stars in our Galaxy. The internal structure and composition of white dwarfs are hidden by their high gravities, which causes all elements apart from the lightest ones to settle out of their atmospheres. The most direct method of probing the inner structure of stars and white dwarfs in detail is via asteroseismology. Here we present a pulsating white dwarf in an eclipsing binary system, enabling us to place extremely precise constraints on the mass and radius of the white dwarf from the lightcurve, independent of the pulsations. This 0.325-solar-mass white dwarf—one member of the SDSS J115219.99+024814.4 system—will serve as a powerful benchmark with which to constrain empirically the core composition of low-mass stellar remnants and to investigate the effects of close binary evolution on the internal structure of white dwarfs

SDSS J105754.25+275947.5: a period-bounce eclipsing cataclysmic variable with the lowest-mass donor yet measured

We present high-speed, multicolour photometry of the faint, eclipsing cataclysmic variable (CV) SDSS J105754.25+275947.5. The light from this system is dominated by the white dwarf. Nonetheless, averaging many eclipses reveals additional features from the eclipse of the bright spot. This enables the fitting of a parameterised eclipse model to these average light curves, allowing the precise measurement of system parameters. We find a mass ratio of q = 0.0546 $\pm$ 0.0020 and inclination i = 85.74 $\pm$ 0.21$^{\circ}$. The white dwarf and donor masses were found to be M$_{\mathrm{w}}$ = 0.800 $\pm$ 0.015 M$_{\odot}$ and M$_{\mathrm{d}}$ = 0.0436 $\pm$ 0.0020 M$_{\odot}$, respectively. A temperature T$_{\mathrm{w}}$ = 13300 $\pm$ 1100 K and distance d = 367 $\pm$ 26 pc of the white dwarf were estimated through fitting model atmosphere predictions to multicolour fluxes. The mass of the white dwarf in SDSS 105754.25+275947.5 is close to the average for CV white dwarfs, while the donor has the lowest mass yet measured in an eclipsing CV. A low-mass donor and an orbital period (90.44 min) significantly longer than the period minimum strongly suggest that this is a bona fide period-bounce system, although formation from a white dwarf/brown dwarf binary cannot be ruled out. Very few period-minimum/period-bounce systems with precise system parameters are currently known, and as a consequence the evolution of CVs in this regime is not yet fully understood

Gaia14aae: the first fully-eclipsing AM CVn

AM CVns are a class of cataclysmic variables consisting of a white dwarf accreting H-deficient matter from a donor star. With periods of 5 to 65 minutes, AM CVns include the shortest period binaries containing white dwarfs. AM CVns are believed to form by one of three formation channels which can in principle be distinguished by the nature of the donor star, but are difficult to constrain observationally. Gaia14aae was one of the first transients discovered by the Gaia Science Alerts project. It eclipses on a period of 50 minutes, and is the only known AM CVn in which the white dwarf is fully eclipsed. This makes it an attractive system for parameter studies. We present an update on our attempts to measure these properties, using high-speed multi-colour photometry. Preliminary results suggest that the donor star is not as degenerate as predicted by models of white dwarf donors